Dead Letters

Mourning, Materiality, and Buddhist Commemoration in Medieval Japan
Erscheinungsjahr 2027
ISBN: 978-0-674-30748-3
Verlag: Harvard University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 488, 440 Seiten, Format (B × H): 178 mm x 254 mm

Reihe: Harvard East Asian Monographs

In Dead Letters, Halle O’Neal explores how inventive makers in medieval Japan, haunted by love and loss, turned to things left behind in the wake of a loved one’s death—specifically, the letters they once exchanged. Since the ninth century, mourners reused and recycled the epistles of the dead for copying sacred Buddhist scripture to create what are known as “letter sutras.” Although these sutras have punctuated the personal histories and material culture of famous figures throughout Japan’s history, as objects they remained largely hidden in plain sight. By foregrounding their production, materiality, and haptic qualities, O’Neal recaptures the vivid tales woven by the interaction of the maker as mourner and the beloved as original letter writer. Her analysis pays careful attention to gender, embodiment, emotions, and invisibility to analyze the multidimensional layers of these palimpsests that offered both an outlet for grief and a prayer for salvation. Through their manifestation, letter sutras bring together multiple layers of religious and cultural significance for mourner and mourned. This beautifully illustrated volume centers the emotional intimacy of used objects and the charged nature of embodiment that lies at the root of private devotional practice to this day.

Autoren/Hrsg.

O’Neal, Halle

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Buddhismus Buddhismus: Leben & Praxis, Soziale Aspekte
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunststile Asiatische Kunst
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunstgeschichte

Über Autor(innen)

O’Neal, Halle
Halle O’Neal is a Reader in Japanese Buddhist Art in the History of Art Department and co-director of the Edinburgh Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She is also co-editor of the journal <i>Buddhist Studies Review</i> and a trustee of the Association for Art History.